Crowdsourcing Based on Base Station Almanac Quality

1. A method in a mobile device for throttling crowdsourcing data, the method comprising: receiving, from a base station almanac server, a base station almanac that is based on a current cell identifier; collecting crowdsourcing information for at least one base station, collecting comprising, for each particular base station of the at least one base station: identifying a cellular identifier for the particular base station; determining a position estimate of the mobile device that is independent of signals from the particular base station; and recording crowdsourcing information for the particular base station, wherein the crowdsourcing information comprises: the cellular identifier; and the position estimate of the mobile device; and sending, to the base station almanac server based on a crowdsourcing throttle for reporting the crowdsourcing information, the crowdsourcing information.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving a crowdsourcing throttling command comprising the crowdsourcing throttle.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the crowdsourcing throttle indicates a quality of the base station almanac.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the crowdsourcing throttle indicates, for mobile devices using a network, which network-types are affected by the crowdsourcing throttle.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crowdsourcing throttle indicates enable/disable of sending the crowdsourcing information.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crowdsourcing throttle indicates a level for sending the crowdsourcing information, wherein the level comprises at least four levels.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the level comprises a rate for sending the crowdsourcing information.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crowdsourcing throttle indicates which mobile-types are affected by the crowdsourcing throttle.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crowdsourcing throttle indicates what level of discrepancies are affected by the crowdsourcing throttle.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: send the current cell identifier and a request for the base station almanac; receiving, based on requesting the base station almanac, the base station almanac and a crowdsourcing throttling command comprising the crowdsourcing throttle.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein collecting the crowdsourcing information comprises collecting the crowdsourcing information from each cell visited during a defined period.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cellular identifier comprises a Cell ID.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the cellular identifier further comprises at least one of a location area code (LAC), a tracking area code (TAC), a system identity (SID) and a network identifier (NID).

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein collecting further comprises: measuring ranging information between the particular base station and the mobile device; wherein the crowdsourcing information further comprises the ranging information.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the position estimate of the mobile device comprises a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) position estimate.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the GNSS position estimate comprises a global positioning system (GPS) position estimate.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the position estimate of the mobile device comprises a position estimate based on base station signals.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the crowdsourcing information comprises sending, with the crowdsourcing information, a request for the base station almanac based on a new current cell identifier.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the crowdsourcing information for the particular base station further comprises a base station frequency of the particular base station.

20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising: receiving, from the particular base station, a latitude and a longitude of the particular base station; wherein the crowdsourcing information for the particular base station further comprises the latitude and the longitude.

21. A mobile device for throttling crowdsourcing data, the mobile device comprising: means for receiving, from a base station almanac server, a base station almanac that is based on a current cell identifier; means for collecting crowdsourcing information for at least one base station, collecting comprising, for each particular base station of the at least one base station: means for identifying a cellular identifier for the particular base station; means for determining a position estimate of the mobile device that is independent of signals from the particular base station; and means for recording crowdsourcing information for the particular base station, wherein the crowdsourcing information comprises: the cellular identifier; and the position estimate of the mobile device; and means for sending, to the base station almanac server based on a crowdsourcing throttle for reporting the crowdsourcing information, the crowdsourcing information.

22. The mobile device of claim 21 , further comprising means for receiving a crowdsourcing throttling command comprising the crowdsourcing throttle.

23. The mobile device of claim 21 , further comprising means for sending the current cell identifier and requesting the base station almanac.

24. The mobile device of claim 21 , further comprising: means for measuring ranging information between the particular base station and the mobile device; wherein the crowdsourcing information further comprises the ranging information.

25. The mobile device of claim 21 , wherein the position estimate of the mobile device is based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals.

26. The mobile device of claim 21 , wherein the position estimate of the mobile device is based on base station signals.

27. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including program code stored thereon for a mobile device to throttle crowdsourcing data, comprising program code to: receive, from a base station almanac server, a base station almanac that is based on a current cell identifier; collect crowdsourcing information for at least one base station, the program code to collect comprising, for each particular base station of the at least one base station, code to: identify a cellular identifier for the particular base station; determine a position estimate of the mobile device that is independent of signals from the particular base station; and record crowdsourcing information for the particular base station, wherein the crowdsourcing information comprises: the cellular identifier; and the position estimate of the mobile device; and send, to the base station almanac server based on a crowdsourcing throttle for reporting the crowdsourcing information, the crowdsourcing information.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 27 , wherein the program code further comprises program code to receive a crowdsourcing throttling command comprising the crowdsourcing throttle.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 27 , wherein the program code further comprises program code to: measure ranging information, for each particular base station of the at least one base station, between the particular base station and the mobile device; wherein the crowdsourcing information further comprises the ranging information.